While many Australians bask in our national image of hard-living outback heroes and laid back sea-changers, the reality is that Australia's heartlands - the cities and suburbs where most of us live - are facing grave challenges.

Cities are still the main game and occupy the centre fields of Australian life, but they are denied their proper significance, writes professor of urban policy at Griffith University Brendan Gleeson.

It is within the domains of the 'ordinary' urban citizenry - the middle and outer suburbs of our metropolitan regions - that the future of our cities is being shaped.